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Add photo gallery to current wedding photography website

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What is the number one thing visitors come to your website for? If you said photographs, you’re correct.

You are a photographer; people want to see your photographs before they ever consider hiring you. That’s why it’s so important to have a variety of images online. Add photo gallery to current website.

Not just a dozen or so in a fancy gallery. I’m talking about dozens of photos in multiple galleries. Enough photographs to give your client the opportunity to understand the type of photography you create, not just the highlights.

Many photographers invest hundreds (even thousands) of dollars building a fancy website, filled with Flash programming that showcases a few images . Guess what? This isn’t bringing in business – in fact, its hurting your business. You see, the search engines don’t recognize Flash. A search engine will bypass your website completely when people search for photography, because they don’t recognize Flash. See more about this subject – photo gallery for website.

Filed Under: Blog, Wedding Photography Tagged With:

Wedding Photography Website – Click to activate

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Do you have a website for your photography business? If the answer is yes, is you site built in flash?

Now the last question…do you and your clients receive the “click to activate” window when their mouse if hovering over any part of your flash site? This can be a problem for many sites that I have come across and we have a fix for your site. If you are interested in eliminating this pesky alert and you are ready to make your site function correctly, please email us at info@virtualphotographystudio.com to discuss the solution.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Filed Under: Blog, Website Marketing Tagged With:

Too Many Digital Photographers at the Wedding

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I hear this question or concern again and again with the wedding photography industry:

With all of the digital cameras at the wedding, the bride and groom receive 100’s of digital files from their guests that they limit the amount of images from me after the event.

Yes, the couple will receive many images from many of their guests and if you were in the same situation, wouldn’t you do the same. The goal is to pre-sell your client and not worry about additional sales after the event. Everyone will be happy and you won’t have to depend on extra sales to keep your studio’s cash flow going. Another item to conceder is the use of your artistic wedding album design. Use your latest software package, Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks or ACDsee to create works of art that the couple can’t live without. One last item is never ever allow images take by others into your design.

Become great salesmen in your studio and figure way to enhance the bottom line instead of becoming frustrated with all of the additional competition at each event.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Filed Under: Blog, Wedding Photography Tagged With:

List your photography studio

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Building links to your site becomes important in today’s crowded internet arena. We have created an easy way to add your studio and contact information. Each studio is listed by state for quick reference. View our listing of wedding photographers and portrait photography studio listings on our site and add your studio today.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Filed Under: Blog, Business Tagged With:

What do you do with a contract?

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Three tips on contracts within your studio.

1. Never sign a contract and mail it to your prospect. Main an unsigned contract, sign it after they return it with a signiture and payment, and return a copy to them. They can hold you liable with a signed contract in hand, even if you never see the contract after mailing it out to the prospect.

2. If your contract is multiple pages long, make sure your clients and you initial each page, including a price list.

3. Never send a contract out as a Word document. Your client can easily change the words. Instead, mail a hard copy, or convert your contract to a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com

 

Filed Under: Blog, Production

Visualize your wedding photography business

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Have you ever visualized your business in the future? What do you see? What things would you like to have happen to you, both in your personal and professional life?

If you can’t see it, you can’t achieve it.

One of my favorite stories is about Roy Disney at the opening of Epcot. He was asked how he felt about Walt not seeing it and he stated, “Walt saw it first”.

Sit back and see yourself ten years from now. What have you achieved? Then write everything down, and start making plans to put it into action.

As a bonus, head over to http://thesecret.tv/secret-to-you/ It’s a great visualization tool that helps you put things into action, and visualize what can be.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com

Filed Under: Blog, Wedding Photography Tagged With: ,

Get Active!

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It’s November! What are you doing with your marketing and PR?

I work with a lot of people. When I hear “I’m too busy to market”, I cringe. If you’re busy now, how did it get that way? Chance are you mailed out a series of brochures. Or you had several conversations with someone that had an influence on your business (i.e. the principle of a high school for senior photos, a children’s clothing store owner for children’s holiday photos, etc.)

What will happen to your business in January? Does it typically come to a roaring stop? The only way to change that is to spend your time NOW marketing for the upcoming new year.

Marketing and PR take a few weeks, or even a few months to work. Make a plan now for a promotion this new year. Then spend a couple of hours every week putting that plan into action. I typically block off Wednesday mornings to work on planning for the future, and make any necessary contacts during that time frame.

Remember, with the Internet, you don’t have to block out prime time. If you are doing portraits M-F, 9-5, don’t use that time frame for planning. Instead, work Wednesday night’s from 6-10. The point is to MAKE the time now, to keep you busy all through the year!

Filed Under: Blog, Business, Website Marketing

What makes you different?

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On Sunday mornings, I love to spend some time going through the ads and the coupons. Though I don’t use many of the coupons, I love to see what new things they are promoting. Some things are amazing.This past week, Sears Portrait Studios advertised an amazing product called the Portrait Study. They sell a frame with 9 square images in it, and photograph the child’s features photojournalistic style.

In their ad, it was of a small child, maybe 12 months old. They had close ups of her eyes, her hands and her feet. Only one photo was a full face image.

What is this going to do to the portrait industry? How can you separate yourself from the discount studios that are now offering an even more exclusive service?

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com

Filed Under: Blog, Website Marketing

Photography Business – Let The Stress Slide By

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Our first few years in business brough with it incredible amounts of stress around this time of year.

You have people that get their orders in to you in plenty of time, and can complete them in November.

Then you have the procrastinators. The people that place an order on December 24th, hoping to have it back by the 25th for a present.

The only way to control the procrastinators is for you to take charge. Set your deadlines – AND STICK WITH THEM.

Don’t take orders after your set deadline with any type of a promise. If a customer places an order after your deadline, they are the one’s at fault.

Use your ordering date as your policy – adhere to it – and make your customer in charge of getting the order to you on time!

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com

Filed Under: Blog, Business, Portrait Photography, Wedding Photography Tagged With:

25 Ways To Generate Leads For Your Photography Business Today

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25 Ways To Generate Leads For Your Photography Business Today

1. Submit your stock images to one of the many online stock agencies such as IStockPhoto. Stock companies allow you to build a bio page, and list links to other sites and information. Use this to selectively promote yourself to people that enjoy your work.

2. Send a press release to your local paper submitting a story idea. Newspapers, television, and radio shows are always on the lookout for a good storyline. Provide them with a story that’s relevant to the season, and makes for good news.

3. Visit a local networking group and offer to photograph the group for the website. Many of today’s networking groups have a website to promote their services. Adding photographs provide a personal touch, and will allow you to capture attention as a photographer.

4. Send out letters to your past clients with a new promotion. Your best client is a past client. Make them an offer they can’t refuse.

5. Visit a local chamber of commerce and sign up for the next networking group. Your chamber of commerce offers a variety of groups for you to network with. Choose a few groups and visit them to make a handful of new connections.

6. Find a complementary business willing to hang samples in their offices. Provide them several framed images at no cost. Because these images will potentially hand in the office for many months, make sure you use your best work, and provide top quality in both mounting and framing.

7. Post a comment on an online message board. Make sure you provide a link back to your website, yet don’t blatantly sell your services. Provide good quality content, and show you know your industry well.

8. Call three prospects and promote your business. Think back over the past couple of weeks to the connections you’ve made. Choose the three that have the best possibility of becoming a client, and connect with them over the phone.

9. Create flyers and hand them out at a networking event. Make your flyer short and to the point. The purpose should be to make them connect with you, either by brining in a coupon, or visiting your website for more information.

10. Write an article for one of your association newsletters. Most trade publications have a shortage of quality material. Offer an article to use, and use it to educate your association members.

Click here for the additional 15 Ways To Generate Leads For Your Photography Business Today

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com

Filed Under: Blog, Marketing Tagged With: ,
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